Brian King (epidemiologist)

In 2005, King was hired as a quitline counselor at the New York State Smokers’ Quitline, which is housed at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York. Concurrently, he was also working within the organization’s Department of Health Behavior to complete the thesis for his Master of Public Health degree at University at Buffalo (SUNY); the thesis was focused on socioeconomic variation in tobacco product advertising across Western New York. In 2006, upon completion of his Master’s degree, he was hired as a Research Affiliate within the Department of Health Behavior, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Department was led at the time by Dr. K. Michael Cummings, and King reported directly to Dr. Andrew Hyland. Both had adjunct appointments at State University of New York at Buffalo, which enabled King to work at the Cancer Center concurrently to earning his PhD at the University.[12]

Brian King conducts a press conference to commemorate the 5-year anniversary of the 2003 New York State Clean Indoor Air Law.

During his time at Roswell Park, King led multiple projects, including those related to the observational assessment of tobacco advertising in retail venues, environmental assessments of particulate matter from secondhand smoke in indoor environments, and population-based collection of data on tobacco related issues, including through the New York State Adult Tobacco Survey and the International Tobacco Control Survey. He also initiated seminal research on secondhand smoke exposure in multiunit housing, which was the first of its kind internationally. This included the first study to document secondhand smoke exposure between apartments in a single multiunit housing building using environmental assessments of airborne particulate matter.[13]

While at Roswell Park, King served as Principal Investigator of multiple grants, including a grant from the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute (FAMRI) to assess secondhand smoke in multiunit housing, and an R36 dissertation grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess an intervention for enhanced adoption of smoke-free multiunit housing policies.

King first gained media experience during his time at Roswell Park, including serving as the organization’s primary spokesperson during a press conference in 2008 to commemorate the 5-year anniversary of the 2003 New York State Clean Indoor Air Act.  

In July 2010, King joined the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) at CDC. He served as an EIS Officer during 2010-2012, during which he was assigned to the agency’s Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. He led multiple field investigations, including a study[14] of indoor air quality from secondhand smoke in hospitality venues throughout American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Norther Mariana Islands.

Following completion of EIS, he was hired as an Epidemiologist in OSH, and promoted to Senior Scientific Advisor in 2014. In 2015, he assumed the role of Deputy Director for Research Translation in OSH. In this role, King led the agency’s efforts related to a variety of high profile matters, including the rise in e-cigarette use among U.S. youth, and the 2014 update to the evidence-based state guide, “Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs”. He also served a critical role in the development and implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2016 rule[15] that prohibited smoking in public housing nationwide. He is also credited with introducing the “Tobacco Control Vaccine” [16] framework, which was featured on the cover of the scientific journal Tobacco Control in 2018.

Brian King briefs U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy prior to the release of the 2016 Surgeon General’s Report on E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults.

In his role as Deputy Director for Research Translation in OSH, King was also responsible for leading the U.S. Surgeon General’s Reports on tobacco for the U.S. Government under multiple presidential administrations. He served as a reviewer for the 2012 Surgeon General’s Report “Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults”;[17] an author of the 2014 Surgeon General’s Report “The Health Consequences of Smoking-50 Years of Progress”;[18] a senior editor of the 2016 Surgeon General’s Report “E-cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults”;[19] and a senior editor of the 2020 Surgeon General’s Report “Smoking Cessation”.[20] He also led the 2018 Surgeon General’s Advisory on E-cigarette Use Among Youth.[21]

In March 2022, King was appointed the Executive Editor of CDC’s Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report series.[22]

Brian King conducts a 2014 CDC press briefing on the Tips From Former Smokers Campaign.

During his tenure at CDC, King also served in various leadership capacities for the agency’s responses to public health emergencies. He served as senior official for the agency’s 2019 response to E-cigarette, or Vaping, Product Use-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI).[23] During 2020-2022, he served in various capacities for the agency’s response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19),[24] [25] including as Deputy Lead of the Chief Medical Officer Unit, Deputy and then Lead of the Strategic Science Unit, and finally as Chief Science Officer.  

King also served on various inter-agency committees during his tenure at CDC. During 2015-2022, King served as CDC’s Ex Officio delegate to FDA’s Tobacco Product Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC).[26] During 2015-2022, he served as lead for Tobacco Use Objectives for Healthy People 2020 and Health People 2030.

King served as a primary spokesperson on tobacco related issues for CDC during his tenure, and frequently participated in interviews with the news media from major national and international television, radio, and print publications.[27]

In July 2022, King was appointed the Director of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) by FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf.[28] In this role, he serves as the lead tobacco regulatory official for the United States, and is responsible for overseeing the Center’s implementation of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Signed into law on June 22, 2009,[29] the Act gives FDA the authority to regulate the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of tobacco products in the United States.

King was the first scientist to be appointed as CTP Director, with his two predecessors being a medical doctor[30] and a lawyer,[31] respectively. King’s appointment was applauded by public health organizations and the scientific community,[32] and criticized by some industry organizations, most notably e-cigarette advocacy organizations.[33] He has publicly championed four major areas of prioritization during his tenure as CTP Director, including robust science, stakeholder engagement, effective communication, and health equity.[34]

King assumed the role of CTP Director during a period when FDA was embroiled in multiple high profile controversies, including the agency’s decision to issue an administrative stay of its June 2022 marketing denial order to JUUL labs for its e-cigarette products;[35] delays in the agency’s review of premarket tobacco product applications, including its newly afforded authority by the U.S. Congress to regulate tobacco products containing synthetic nicotine;[36] criticism over the agency’s compliance and enforcement actions, particularly against e-cigarettes; and the resignation of CTP’s Office of Science Director, Dr. Matthew Holman, to assume a new role at Philip Morris International, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes.[37] King has publicly referred to his first several months at FDA on several occasions as “baptism by blowtorch”.[38]

During his first year as CTP Director, King led the Center to achieve several actions that were the first of their kind for the agency, including the issuance of the first injunctions,[39] in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice, filed against manufacturers for the sale of illegal e-cigarette products; the first civil money penalty complaints filed against e-cigarette manufacturers for the sale of illegal e-cigarette products;[40] the agency’s first marketing authorization decisions for menthol e-cigarettes, which were marketing denial orders for products by Logic [41] that are presently under appeal by the company; and the agency’s first warning letters issued to retailers for selling illegal tobacco products since the agency’s 2020 deadline for submission of premarket tobacco product applications.[42] King also oversaw efforts that led the U.S. Solicitor General to appeal a decision by the U.S. Fifth Circuit in RJ Reynolds v. FDA that blocked FDA’s rule to require graphic warning labels on cigarette packs in the United States.[43] During his time as CTP Director, the Center is also working to finalize product standards to prohibit menthol in cigarettes and to prohibit all characterizing flavors in cigars,[44] and has continued to relay its intent to propose a rule to cap the maximum level of nicotine in cigarettes and certain other smoked tobacco products to nonaddictive or minimally addictive levels.[45]  

Brian King meets with U.S. Senator from Illinois and Senate Majority Whip, Dick Durbin, in 2022 at the U.S. Capitol.

During King’s first year as Director, the Center completed review of more than 99% of the 1 million applications received for non-tobacco nicotine (e.g. synthetic nicotine) products following the April 2022 law clarifying FDA’s authority to regulate this products.[46] However, the Center continues to receive criticism over its delays in reviewing all premarket tobacco product applications received by the agency by the 2020 deadline, including those court-ordered in American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) v. FDA.[47] King has publicly stated that the Center has completed review of 99% of the 26 million applications received, and is on track to complete review of the remaining AAP-required applications by the end of 2023.[48]

In February 2023, King announced the Center’s plans to address the recommendations from an external evaluation by the Reagan-Udall Foundation; this included a new 5-year strategic plan for the Center.[49] The independent evaluation was requested by the FDA Commissioner in July 2022, a few weeks after King’s arrival as Center Director.[50]

In May 2023, King appointed CTP’s first Senior Advisor for Health Equity.[51] He also oversaw the discontinuation of the Center’s use of the term “grandfathered” when referring to preexisting tobacco products (i.e. those on the market before 2007, which are excluded from FDA regulation by the Tobacco Control Act) due to the term’s historical ties to 19^th Century racist voting laws.[52]